Apparatus for smoothing and drying garments



APPARATUS FOR SMOOIHING AND DRYING GARMENTS Filed Feb. :5, 1943 2 Sheecs-Sheet 2 Patented July 9,1946

IT D STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR SMOOTHING Annmtrme' GARMENT-S 'HarryC. Grimes, Elkins, Va.

Application. February 3, 1943,Se 17ia1,;N .-4l4,;5'18

Claims.

.The present invention relates to P essing .machines 0f the type for ironing or smoothinggarmerits. f

Heretofore, in so-called steam laundry, i has been necessary, as well asthe practice,.to emiploy four and sometimes five separate machines impress a mans shirt. The methodof using these various machines is usually to press the cuffs and collar of the shirt .on one machine designed for h p p e; then the shirt is placed upon a bosom pressing'machine; from the bosom pressing machine, the shirt is placed upon a yoke pressing machine which irons the .back of the shirt under the collar portion; from theyoke pressing machine, the-shirtis placed upon a socalled body pressing machine which presses the back andsides and-,tailssectionsof the shirtr trom the body pressing machine, the shirt :is placed upon a .form .knownas-ra sleever (which isran elongated, tapering iorm, somewhat oblong in cross section, over whichthe sleeve is slid); an finally, the shirt is folded.

The broad object of the present invention :is primarily to improve :the, so-ealled, bosom pressing machine esp-that the need pi the yoke presser. body presser and sleeverj? and the necessary operators, ;may .bedi-spensed=with1and so that, when ;the shirt has left :the :bosom presser, it is ready to he ioldedforgpackag ingor delivery tothe customer.

iMorespecifically, :it the object of the invention to improve :a pressing machine, .zcomprising stationary and moveable bucks, -wi'th instrumentalities thatwill 'iorce air'zinto a-shirtor similar tubular garment, havin one portion resting .on the stationary buck .or bed :and' the other *por tions suspended Fbelow said buck, so :as to distend the suspended portions :of the garment in order that suchdistended portions will-be smoothed and dried by said ai-r-while.- that portion of the gap ment "in .-:contact with =the=stationary "buck is being pressed and dried "between the latter and the moveable ioruck.

With the above and other objects in-view,-as will appear as the specification proceeds, the in-- vention iurt-herres'ides in the details -01! construction, combination and 'arrangement of parts hereafter more fully described and particular-ly pointed-out in the appended claims.

As an example of one torm in-which the invention may he constructed, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in'whic'h-' Figure 1 is a *front elevationof a conventional pressing machine equipped with the present invention; v

Figure a p an view of the machine shown in Figure 1, with the top buck removed Figure 3 is an end elevation of the machine as shown in Figure ,1 and viewed from the righthand side of Figure ll; .and

,Figureiisa top plan view; similar to Figure ,2, illustrating ashirt placed in position on the flower bucleor bed and in the distended position it assumes when subjected-to the action of thepresent invention.

Referring in detail to the drawings, in'which like characters of reference refer .to similar and like parts throughoutthe several views, in denotes .a supporting standard or pedestal to .support a table ,l.:l andstationary ibuckor bed 12 ,of a conventional pressing machine, which also includes a complemental upper or swinging buck l3 mounted on a swinging ar-m l l pivotally Con-1 nected-to a horn .or supportingarm [-5 at the rear of-the machine. The'swi-nging arm I 4 is suitably balan d, as at I16, and is, o dinarily, c nn cted bya link to a-treadle I:8 at the base 0f the pedestal-l0 and by wh ch an unper buck 13 may be swung into cooperative pressing relation a ainst the 'upp su fa th l e buc When pn ssu e:-is r l e ed fr m th t eadle 5'18; the-upper buck 1.341s ;1aised..by-the action of the wei ht 16.1101 othermeanssuch as sp in s air, et cetera, -.Aproteetingsideeboard l9 risesifrom-the rear :edge :of the-{table I l. I

The above description .rdescribes the rudimentar-y principles of a pressing machine :and'iforms no part of 313118 present 'ainyentioni except as they cooperate withthezresit of the mechanism later to be described. it. will, of course, be understood that the iparticiflazrconstruction .-or form of the pressing machine :may ya-ryirom :that shown and described, as it m-a-y be air-operated or electrically .operaated and may take any form which :employs an upper and a lower buck for-pressing purposes. .such bucks-conta'ina heatingmeans usually forming steam chambers, "to which steam is supplied, 'and are coveredwith padding. Also, some of said-pressingmachines areequipped with, so-called, "exhausting or suction means which carry off vapors, thus tending to dry the pressed 3 in position on the lower buck, as shown in Figure 4, if air under pressure, and preferably hot air, is blown under the lower buck 12, say at the tail portion of the shirt, particularly while the upper buck is in its lower pressing position against the front of the shirtso as to hold the shirt on the buck-the back, sides and sleeves can be dried and smoothed to take on an appearance as though they had been pressed with an iron or in a buck pressing machine, the operation taking place at the same time that the front of the shirt is being pressed and dried be- I tween the upper and lower bucks l2 and I3;

tioned, it is proposed that the support 20, which supports the buck l2 on table II and positioned at the end of the lower buck l2 opposite the collar receiving end 2|, be cut away as at x, or otherwise so fashioned, that there will be clearance or room for the tail portion of the shirt to be stretched and extended under the buck I2 when the collar of the shirt is placed around the usual collar-form 2|.

A pair of air discharging nozzles 22 (which may comprise open-ended air impervious pipes) are arranged on opposite sides of thebuck-support '20 between the table II and buck l2. These nozzles are positioned to direct a blast of air emitted therefrom longitudinally of the buck l2 ina direction from the tail-end of the shirt onsaid buck toward the other end thereof. The nozzles 22 are shown 'as terminating slightly within the open tail-end of the shirt, but satisfactory results are obtained if the terminal ends of the nozzles do not extend within the said end of the shirt. Also, it' is within the purview of the invention that there be only one nozzle 22, which may extend through the support 20.

In order to insure that the tail-end of the shirt will remain in position with respect to the lower buck while the hot air is being blown into it, the tail portion of the shirt may be gripped by spring fasteners 35, as shown in Figure 4, these fasteners being of any approved type and being, preferably, carried on the ends of a flexible cord 36 secured to the table 20, as shown in Figures 1 and 4 A'bafile plate 34, extending transversely underneath buck l 2 terminating a slight distance above table II, obstructs and retards the outward now of air from the opentail-endof the shirt-caused by back pressure .as the air-pressure from the nozzles 22 builds up within the shirt. Of course, as shown, this baffle plate should be positioned shortof the terminal discharge ends of the nozzles 22 in the direction of the air flow.

It has also been found, where the back, sides and sleeve portions 'of the shirt have dried out too ,much for good results, that by. atomizing steam, into the air current from the nozzles 22, for a brief period of time during the operation,

the. fabricis moistened suiiiciently to permit the desired results to be obtained.

, To this end, a steam nozzle 23 is shown between the lowerbuck or bed l2 and the table II and, preferably, slightly in advance of the terminal discharge ends of the air nozzles 22; however, the nozzle 23 may be disposed in or incorporated into the air nozzle. As one means of supplying the hot air blast to the nozzles 22, there is shown a fan blower 24, of the centrifugal type, driven from an electrical motor 25, both mounted on the pedestal base of the machine or at another convenient point. Communicating with the intake side of the blower 24 .isa heater 2B of any approved construction; This heate'r may consist of a casing" having therein a 'steamcoil 21 so that air being induced into the fan will pass through the heater 26 to heat the air to at least F. The hot air discharged from the fan 24 is conducted through conduit 28, preferably insulated, connected to the air nozzles 22.

The customary steam supply line for the bucks l2 and I3 has connected thereto a pipe 29 to supply steam to the coil 21 of the heater 24 and also has a pipe connection 30 to the steam nozzle 23. This pipe 30 is provided with a hand valve 3|; positioned for convenient operation by the presser or attendant so that steam may be emitted from the nozzle 23 for the purposes above described,

It is proposed that the hot air from the nozzles 22 be discharged only when the garment is on the machine and is having the desired portion ofit subjected to the cooperative action of the lower and upper bucks, or when the upper buck I3 is in predetermined position from its uppermost raised position. Therefore, the electrical supply line to the motor 25 has a switch 32 interposed therein to be operated to close the motor-circuit when the'upper buck I3 is in a predetermined lower position.- Any type of switch may be employed for this purpose, but it has been found that a mercury switch is admirably suitable for this purpose.

The present apparatus, when operated as above defined, will introduce a hot air blast into a shirt or other garment or tubular fabric article, when on a pressing machine, soas to distend the fabric thereof by air pressure which seeps through the interstices of the fabric resulting in smoothing out and drying the fabric, producing no wrinkles and leaving the surface of the fabric with ,a very natural, smooth, laundered finish. In the case of shirts or other garments having sleeves, the above operation is facilitated by closing the ends of the sleeves by clip 33 (Figure 4) or other suitable meanselongated U-shape spring clip or elongated clothes pins serving this purpose very well.

Having thus described the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed, that which is claimed as new is:

1. In a shirt pressing machine, cooperating relatively movable pressing members upon one of which the shirt front is laid with the back, sides and sleeves of the shirt body suspended from sai member; a source from which a blast of air is emitted including an air conduit having a discharge end discharging directly into the suspended portion of the shirt below said last mentioned pressing member and in the general direction from the tail end portion of the shirt toward the neck and shoulder end portion thereof to distend said suspended portion of the shirt by said air blast alone while said front portion of the-shirt is being pressed between said pressing members, whereby saidsuspended portion of the shirt may be stretched smooth and dried while its front is being pressed.

2. In a pressing machine, cooperating relatively movable pressing membersupon one of by said air blast only, whereby said suspended portion of the shirt may be stretched smooth and dried while its front portion is being pressed between said pressing members, and'means .controlled by the position of said movable pressing member for controlling the emission and cutting-off of said air blast. I

3. In a pressing machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein there is a supply source of fabricmoistening agent, means for causing said moistening agent to become entrained in said air blast within said distended shirt portions, and means for controlling the entrainment of said moistening agent at the will of the operator.

4. In a pressing machine as set forth in claim 1 further characterized by holding means under said shirt front supporting member and positioned to engage the tail-end portion of the back of the shirt to hold the latter inposi-tion against the pressure of said air blast.

, a discharge end disposed and mounted on the machine'at one end of the stationary buck and positioned to direct the air from the blower substantially longitudinally of said stationary buck on theside thereof opposite to its pressing surface, and means controlled by the position of,

said movable buck to control the emission of said air from the discharge end of said conduit, the discharge end of said conduit being free to discharge into the atmosphere to distend portions of garments suspended below said stationar buck without the aid of intervening means.

- HARRY O. GRIMES. 

